Chapter 8: A new day
The days in the dark elf tribe were correspondent with the days outside the cavern. The magic crystals would be covered up in accordance with the sunset to prevent sleeplessness amongst the tribe's members.
Ainz guessed that it was somewhere between six and seven in the morning when someone finally came to wake him up.
A soft knocking sound on the door was all he heard, but it sufficed since he had never been asleep in the first place. Instead, he merely attained his knight form and was lying on the bed when he heard the knock.
Ainz got up and opened the door only to see four armed elf guards stand at his door, one of them Camus, who was equipped in much lighter gear compared to yesterday. Unlike his clothing, his killing intent was still sharp, although he tried to keep it hidden for some reason.
"Could you be so kind as to tell me where the two elves are?"
Ainz's question was not one of curiosity but merely politeness as he didn't want to come off as overly conceited. Besides, he would have to spend the entire day with probably these four dark elves. The least he could do was talk a little to them to pass the time.
"The two esteemed emissaries have already left, you on the other hand are advised to stay inside this room until they return." One of the men beside Camus grumbled.
"Ooh?"
Ainz was curious how they managed to get the sleepyhead Mare out of his bed. Most likely Aura woke him up.
"Well then, let's go see some of the cavern's sights."
Completely ignoring the casual threat from the dark elf, Ainz stepped out of his room and proceded towards the the edge of the rock where the rowboats were moored. To the great dissatisfaction of the four dark elves, they were forced to go along and escort Ainz back to the main part of the tribe.
Seeing as there was no other choice Camus sat down with Ainz in the same boat while the other three dark elves took another rowboat. And so they departed for the tribe's central region.
As the boat left and floated towards the shore of the underground lake, almost no one noticed that the elder that would usually sit under his tree day and night in meditation had actually stood up and watched the rowboat leave. The only person that had seen him get up was his caretaker who stood a bit behind him as she threw a couple of glances at the boat with Ainz on it before heading back to the courtyard to prepare some more medicine for the elder.
Although few in the clan knew of this, the elder was actually not as strong and powerful as he was in his prime anymore. His power had dwindled due to a certain event some time ago. Ever since that time, he had been forced to take medicine made from herbs in the forest to keep his condition stable. But with the problems surrounding the demon beasts…
A complicated look was visible on the elder's eyes as he stared at the armoured figure that quietly rowed himself and Camus to the shore. Usually it should have been Camus who rowed the boat seeing as Ainz was something like an honoured guest. But Ainz was actually rowing the boat all the while Camus simply watched with an irked expression. The elder wanted to fly over and reprimand Camus, but that would ruin his standing and reputation as the dignified elder.
Suddenly, he felt a tremor run through his body. The amount of medicine he had been able to take in was not even half of what was needed, and the effects were beginning to show themselves. Before he would have been able to cast the sixth tier spell [Heal] on himself, but after he had lost some of his power, fifth tier spells had become his maximum and spells of that level would prove insufficient.
Great ancestor, I solemnly swear that before this body of mine falls, I will see our tribe entrusted to someone reliable if that is your wish. But I wonder, why do you not lead them in my stead?
If the ancestor would reveal himself, then the entire tribe and all of its clans would naturally follow without batting an eye or a single word of complaint. And yet all that proved they still had an ancestor were the occasional words of guidance that he sent towards the elder. The whole thing was extremely confusing.
At this time, Ainz and Camus docked at the shore of the lake where Hamsuke and five more dark elves were standing in wait of them.
Hamsuke had clearly been guarded by these elves throughout the entire night as they waited for Camus to return. It was not often that a magical beast like this entered their home, and it needed to be watched carefully. Fortunately, the beast had been quite docile and even commended them for bravely standing guard near it. At the same time, it had been conversing from time to time with a strange bead that it carried around its neck, as if having a conversation with it. The guards in all honesty didn't know what to make of it.
"Yo, Hamsuke. I trust you haven't been a burden to these men during the night."
Seeing its master, the giant hamster's eyes lit up as it perched it head in order to respectfully greet him.
"No, of course not, dono. I have been waiting here patiently for your return. That I have− gozaru. Will we be heading back into the forest now?"
"No, Hamsuke, since this is a rare opportunity to see some marvellous sights, let's instead look around the caverns a bit more. I hope that's alright with you… I'm sorry, what was your name again, dark elf-san?
Ainz looked at Camus who had been listening to the conversation with a vexed face. The very fact that the elder had ordered him to be respectful to Ainz meant he could not deny him without a clear reason.
"Fine, let's go then, Momon… san."
Ignoring how forced that response sounded, Ainz strolled off with the group as the dark elves followed behind him with pained expressions. Meanwhile, Hamsuke cheerfully chatted with Ainz about the magnificence of the cavern, saying things along the lines of how incomparable it was to his old cave.
Passing through the cavern, Ainz had to admit that this world's nature was far more extravagant and unbridled than nature back on earth. After so many years of pollution and environmental neglect, Earth's nature and wildlife had diminished quite a bit, but in this world it was as of yet untouched for the most part. Ainz had no real emotions left in him, but he still had the human capacity of appreciating beauty.
The more Ainz walked around, the more agitated Camus who stood behind him got as he was forced to walk through practically the entire tribe despite the advice not to, and even the elder casually mentioning not to do so yesterday.
Finally, the group of elves arrived at an open circular area where the ground was smoothed out and surrounded by a humble wooden fence. The area slightly peaked Ainz's interest.
"That area, what is it used for?"
Camus' eyes narrowed as he responded whilst trying to remain as polite as possible.
"That's the arena. It's where we train our 100-200 years old recruits who wish to join the hunting troupe, Momon-san… After they finish their training that lasts 30-50 years, they attain a level far surpassing the level of lowly human adventurers."
As much as he tried, he was unable to keep that small insult from slipping out. This caused great delight amongst his men, who likewise had no love for humans but had been forced to keep in their complaints since Ainz was a guest and protected by the elder's decree.
"Say, I've been meaning to ask this for a while now. Why is it that you have such a burning hatred for me, Camus-dono? I don't remember ever wronging you in this life."
To these words, Camus' face contorted as he portrayed an ugly frown with the veins in his forehead beginning to swell. The question made him recall the events that caused him to feel such hatred and that by itself was enough to send him into a killing spree of all humans near him. If it hadn't been for the direct order of the elder, he would've already tried to lynch Ainz and forge it as an accident.
"It's not something you humans with your pathetic lives will ever be able to understand. Us elves don't mourn our dead for a day or for a year, we mourn them for a hundred and keep grudges for much longer. If it wasn't for the elder asking that I don't do anything stupid, I would have already beaten you to death just for being human!"
Ainz looked calmly at Camus who seemed almost foaming from the mouth as he spoke. The light behind his helmet seemed to change as he replied in a completely undisturbed manner.
"Then would you like to have a duel with me?"
"Haaaaah?" x7
AA: I finally think that I figured out why my stories aren't as popular as the best ones on this place. It's because all the best ones have this HUGE DxD obsession. With character sheets and everything. Forgive me if I will not descend into tabletop games madness by sketching out the stats and profile of every important character. Personally I don't have special feelings for DxD, so me just staying true to my own style will have to do. :p
PS: slight surprise incoming
And as always
GLORY TO AINZ OOAL GOWN
